1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to sample irradiation and more particularly to sample irradiation by short, intense X-ray pulses in the process of imaging the sample.
2. State of Technology
The article “Potential for Biomolecular Imaging with Femtosecond X-ray Pulses;” by Richard Neutze, Remco Wouts, David Van Der Spoel, Edgar Weckert and Janos Hajdu; in the Aug. 17, 2000 issue of NATURE (Vol. 406, pages 752–757) provides the following state of technology information: Sample damage by X-rays and other radiation limits the resolution of structural studies on non-repetitive and non-reproducible structures such as individual biomolecules or cells . . . . Radiation damage is caused by X-ray photons depositing energy directly into the sample.